Charles Ryder: A Quest for Everlasting Love

I recently rediscovered this little gem from my college days. It was the last undergrad literature paper I wrote on my favourite literary work, Brideshead Revisited. So I thought I would share it. :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The story of Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited follows the life of Charles Ryder, an artist seeking an everlasting love to which he can hold on that will never change and pass away.  This search is made manifest through the three main passions in his life, namely, his art, his friendship with Sebastian, and his love for Julia. All of these fall short, and it is only after he looks back on these memories and sees that all of these loves have changed and passed away that he eventually finds that love which is unchanging and lasting, namely, the presence of God in the tabernacle.

As an artist, Charles seeks to capture the fleeting world and preserve it. He is commissioned to draw Brideshead, as a means of preserving a memory of it, while contractors prepare to tear down the house.  He is particularly interested in architecture, for he sees in buildings something that remains firm and unchanging. He says, at one point in the novel: “I regarded men as something much less than the buildings they made and inhabited, as mere lodgers and short-term sub-lessees of small importance in the long, fruitful life of their homes.”[1] Even as the surrounding environment changes, the building still stands. The object of this love of Charles’ is the enduring aspect of the buildings that “grew silently with the centuries, catching and keeping the best of each generation” (226). He is attracted to the unchanging, permanent aspect of art and architecture. It appears to him as a solid foundation against which the changing world moves. 

He eventually finds, however, that this can become dull and he loses inspiration, for there is no spiritual depth to this passion of his. This love is one-sided and Charles receives no return of love from this object of his love.  The words of Saint Augustine, in his Confessions, could very well belong to Charles: “But material things, which have no soul, could not be true objects for my love. To love and to have my love returned was my heart’s desire.”[2] Charles will seek to fill this longing for another soul through his friendship with Sebastian.

Through this friendship, he yearns for the everlasting. He is fascinated by Sebastian’s eccentricity and often mysterious character. The depth he sees in Sebastian attracts Charles to him, for Charles has lived a dull life until this point and desires something more, something he can cherish and keep forever. He wants to love. He tells of this when he first visits Sebastian: “I was in search of love in those days, and I went full of curiosity” (31).  As he grows in friendship with Sebastian, Charles lives the childhood he never had.  

Youth, however, although necessary for growing into manhood, cannot last forever, but must pass away. Sebastian represents this youth, and for Charles, this friendship is but a step in his life.  Charles says of this matter: “The languor of Youth—how unique and quintessential it is! … But languor…that belongs to Youth alone and dies with it” (79). Charles’ love for Sebastian, initially seeming to fill the emptiness in Charles, eventually proves to be not deep enough, as it is but a childish love. At one point in the novel, as Charles is talking with Julia about Sebastian, she asks: “You loved him, didn’t you?” and Charles responds: “Oh yes. He was the forerunner” (257). Sebastian, in a way, prepares Charles for his next love.

This next passion that dominates the life of Charles is his relationship with Julia. Here, Charles is drawn to her unique beauty, founded in her suffering and sadness. He speaks of his first impression of her after ten years in this way: “this haunting, magical sadness which spoke straight to the heart and struck silence; it was the completion of her beauty” (239). He is drawn to her sadness. He has lost all joy in life by this time and finds no fulfillment in anything, his life is dull. While she, on the other hand, has grown deeper and more beautiful due to the loss of joy in her life. Like Sebastian, there is a depth to her that Charles does not fully understand. It is this depth to which Charles is attracted. 

As he grows closer to Julia, his love for her begins to deepen and he begins to understand the depths to which he is drawn.  It is at the moment of Julia’s revival of faith at her father’s death that Charles realizes his true love for this woman.  She tells him they cannot go on living together, and he finally understands. It is her faith that gives Julia such depth. Charles sees this, and yet must wait for it to settle into his own soul. He sees the last words of Julia and the death of their relationship as the death of all that was alive in him, for she was all he held onto. It is only after many years, when Charles returns to Brideshead that he will realize “that is not the last word” (351).

These three passions of Charles Ryder show his yearning for an everlasting deep love. Each love shows a progression in his quest for true love, for in each case, his love deepens. His initial love for art is merely a one-sided fascination that seeks to preserve a changing world. His next love, found in his friendship with Sebastian, fulfills his lacking childhood and sets the foundation for growth and maturity. The third love of Charles, namely his relationship with Julia, takes Charles to a deeper level of love by drawing him to an understanding of her depth and suffering. It is only after these all pass away that Charles, feeling completely empty, reflects on the progression of his loves and comes to a full grasp of the source of Love itself.  

As one literary commentator fittingly expresses: “The human spirit must divest itself of its passions before it can enter the inner sanctum of being.”[3]  Thus, it is only after Charles has been separated from all he has ever loved and looks back on it all that he can truly see the reality of love.  This love is firm and unchanging, working through all his various loves as an underlying constant, and is finally realized by Charles in the tabernacle flame “burning anew among the old stones” (351).

---

[1]Evelyn Waugh, Brideshead Revisited (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1945), 226. All citations of Brideshead Revisited will be from this edition and henceforth will be cited parenthetically in the text by page number.

[2]Augustine, Confessions, trans. R. S. Pine-Coffin (London: Penguin Books, 1961), 55.

[3]K.C. Joseph Kurismmootl, S.J., Heaven and Hell on Earth: An Appreciation of Five Novels of Graham Greene (Chicago: Loyola University Press, 1982), 151.

John G. Schmitz: A Stranger in the Arena of Our Times

"God is not going to judge us by if we win or lose, but by how hard we try." These are the words of a hero. They define heroism. These words formed the basis of the life of Col. John G. Schmitz, a true hero of our times.  Heroes are not born heroes, they become heroes, and it takes effort, courage, and most of all, conviction. A hero stands up in times of adversity against all odds, not because he can, nor for publicity’s sake, but because he believes, without a doubt, in the truth of his cause. A hero never backs down when the fighting starts, but instead he rises all the stronger.

Such was the life of John Schmitz, who died 12 years ago today. John had a strong sense of patriotism and a desire for valor from a young age and joined the Marine Corps in his early 20’s, eventually rising to the position of Colonel. Though he never fought in a military war, another battleground lay in store for him, the political arena.

Following his military years, Schmitz became a State Senator of California, U.S. Congressman, and presidential candidate. His strong unwavering convictions along with his humor and wit, earned him immediate recognition and respect by both friends and enemies.  His concern as a politician was not so much to please the people and cater to their every whim, but rather to stand by his principles, unconditionally.

While in Congress, he introduced the first Human Life Amendment, six months before the passing of Roe v. Wade. He believed in the sanctity of human life and sought every means of protecting it in his state of life, no matter what the odds. It was a time such as this when a friend asked him: “John, why do you keep pushing for something when you know it has no chance of success?” To this he responded with the above opening line which defined his outlook on life and inspired his actions. He believed in America and chose to do all he could on his part in the life he was given to preserve his country.

As a presidential candidate in 1972 for the American Party, he stood by this simple platform: “(1) in foreign affairs, we should always treat our friends better than our enemies; (2) never go to war unless you plan on winning; and (3) domestically, those who work ought to live better than those who won't.” This garnered him 1.1 million votes in 32 states. His heroism was not found in victory, but in his strong convictions and unwavering efforts to preserve them.

His perseverance and courage make someone like John Schmitz a role-model for our times. No human is perfect and every hero has weaknesses. But what separates the men from the boys, the heroic from the ordinary, is standing strong, despite these failings. John Schmitz was a man, just like the rest of us, but he chose to stand his ground against the current in his own life, which happened to be politics.

Each of us is also given a mission, be it politics, education, culture, or what have you. We are called to stand strong and hold our ground, not for the sake of the outcome, but because we firmly believe in what we stand for, in the Truth. This is how heroes are made, and John Schmitz is a prime example of such a man. He wrote a book based on his political experiences entitled: Stranger in the Arena: the Anatomy of an Amoral Decade 1964-1974. Following his legacy, we are all called to be strangers in our own arenas of life.